


Young and Beautiful

by PurpleGooPerson



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Brucinette, F/M, Grand Guardian Marinette, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I apologize in advance if I make someone cry, I wrote this instead of updating, Literally was inspired by a song, MariBat, Marinette basically adopts the batkids, Marinette is the same age as Bruce, Mominette, So much angst, Songfic, because i'm a little shit, i still don't know what to tag for things, it doesn't get better, post-hawkmoth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29814324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleGooPerson/pseuds/PurpleGooPerson
Summary: Will you still love meWhen I’m no longer young and beautiful?They meet in Tibet. He sought her out during his training years and slowly they came closer together as the years passed by.But nothing is meant to last...(Completed. Crossposted from my Tumblr)
Relationships: Marinette & all the batboys, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 13
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Forgive me! I know i have so many works that need updating. But, I been trying to get inspired to write more while writing fics on tumblr. 
> 
> I'm cross posting this fic from my tumblr: maribat-prompts-and-ideas. I wrote and completed it last year but I know others like the format on AO3 better. SO i figured I could crosspost it from there to here.  
> Also including the cover I made for it in the first chapter.

\- * -

_I’ve seen the world, done it all  
Had my cake now  
Diamonds, brilliant, in Bel-Air now  
Hot summer nights, mid July  
When you and I were forever wild  
The crazy days, city lights  
The way you’d play with me like a child_

_Will you still love me  
When I’m no longer young and beautiful?  
Will you still love me  
When I’ve got nothing but my aching soul?  
I know you will, I know you will  
I know that you will  
Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?_

He meet her in Tibet, just after he broke from the League of Shadows and Ra’s Al Ghul’s grasp. Bruce had heard rumors whilst within the League, rumors of a magical Order in charge of protecting the balance and powerful magical jewels. An Order thought to have disappeared over 200 years ago only to suddenly reappear whole over 10 years ago. Bruce vaguely remembered mention of that when he was 14, but at the time the young Wayne Heir had not cared about the earth shattering news of a temple reappearing in Tibet. That or the rumors of superheroes in Paris of all places.

Yet here he was a decade later, being ushered into the Pínghéng Pavilion in order to meet the Grand Guardian of the Order of the Miraculous. He kept his annoyance to himself as he was made to wait within the outer chambers as the monks went to retrieve the new Grand Guardian from the meditation room. 

“Ah Bruce Wayne, I was wondering when you would grace us with your presence,” Came a soft musical voice spoke from the stairs leading to the meditation rooms of the Pavilion, causing Bruce to look up startled. Gasping as he was taken aback by the person standing there. 

Instead of an elderly man like many of the monks he was expecting…

Standing there draped in the regal gold trimmed crimson robes depicting her station at the Temple of the Miraculous, was a young woman near his age with long flowing blue/black hair and blue eyes bright with mirth and hidden knowledge. As she walked closer, Bruce realized that she was shorter then himself by a good foot, yet her sheer presence made it feel as if she towered over him.

“I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Grand Guardian of the Order of the Miraculous,” She introduced herself demurely all the while looking up at him with steel in her blue gaze, “And you, Bruce Wayne, will come to find that I am a hard task master to please.”  
  
The Wayne Heir was not even able to reply before she glided past him with a nod, “Now come, we will get you set up in the Hall of Wèidìng where you will be staying until we find the House you fit best. After all before your true training can begin, you will need to learn Balance before we teach you our ways.”

For five years, Bruce trained with the Order of Guardians and learned their ways. Through them, he learned to temper his impatience, to reign in the burning rage within his soul and to not become consumed with his need for Justice. Within those five years, the future hero had been sorted into the House of Huǐmiè because according to the Grand Guardian that though Bruce held equal parts of Destruction and Justice within his soul… She felt that in order to follow his chosen path and not become consumed by the thing he sought, Bruce needed to learn how sometimes you must Destroy something to bring Order and Create something new. With that, the Wayne Heir dawned the black robes of Huǐmiè and continued his training. 

Whilst he was training, Bruce learned that Marinette was only two years younger then himself and that she was still training herself even though she already held the position of Grand Guardian. Though she explained that the old Grand Guardian, her former Master, had to end her training early and pass the Guardianship of the Grand Miracle Box over to her in the heat of battle in order to stop the villain she had been fighting. 

“It was…what made me the hero and Guardian I am now. That was a major defining point in my life... And even though I wish it never happened, without it I would not have become who I am now and I would never have grown up. Losing Master Fu forced me to grow up and step away from the little girl I had been up until that moment,” Marinette explained after she told him of how she became Grand Guardian and why she was still training, “My training should be complete in ten more years give or take. We are struggling to rebuild the Order and hunt down the Miraculous that had been lost with it’s destruction.”

Now….it was time for Bruce to return to Gotham and take up the mantle he was working on creating. He was standing outside the entrance to the Temple, gazing solemnly down at Marinette as she came to see him off, “Are you sure you will not accept the Black Cat Miraculous?”

“You know why I can’t, Marinette,” He rumbled softly, gently capturing her hands into his and pulling her close into a gentle hug, “I wish to protect Gotham and her innocents with my own strength. Not the borrowed strength of a God.”

  
“Plus you don’t like the smell of cabernet cheese,” She teased lightly causing the older to laugh and mutter in her ear, “Don’t tell Plagg.”

“I’ll miss you,” Marinette smiled sadly as she gently pulled away, looking up at Bruce, “You have become someone I cherish greatly, Bruce, so please, stay safe. And keep in contact.”  
  
“I will.” 

And for once, Bruce planned to keep this promise.

—*—

He didn’t see her again until three years later after he took in his first ward, Richard Grayson. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the Life and Times of the Batfam plus Mominette.
> 
> Also the Batkids wish Bruce would just marry her already.

_I’ve seen the world, lit it up  
As my stage now  
Channeling angels in a new age now  
Hot summer days, rock and roll  
The way you play for me at your show  
And all the ways, I got to know  
Your pretty face and electric soul_

_Will you still love me  
When I’m no longer young and beautiful?  
Will you still love me  
When I’ve got nothing but my aching soul?  
I know you will, I know you will  
I know that you will  
Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?_

_He didn’t see her again until three years later after he took in his first ward, Richard Grayson._

_-*-_

He didn’t know how she knew that he needed her support or how she was aware of his new ward, soon to be adopted son. All Bruce was aware of was of the fact that his shoulders finally released the tension he had not been aware that he was carrying when he came up from the Batcave after Dick’s first patrol and felt her familiar and welcoming calm aura. Even Richard noticed the distinct change in his guardian’s demeanor once they exited the Cave and entered the manor. And though the young Robin didn’t necessarily feel the new aura of calm permeating the Manor, he certainly does relax the moment he steps out of the Cave and feels the tension he had carried since his parent’s murder leave his own body.

It felt as if he was finally coming home and not just coming back to the house he inhabited with his guardian and the butler. 

Bruce could only watch in awe as Marinette breaks through all of Dick’s walls and within a week he walks in on Marinette holding a crying 12 year old boy as he finally griefs for his parents. Not long after that Marinette joins them on patrol as Popinjay using the fixed Peacock Miraculous.

Her suit looked like an odd mix of leather and spandex, a deep dark blue with black accents with some dark green detailing here and there; black gloves with blue fingers, black boots with blue heels and a dark blue domino mask with green detailing that mimicked feathers. Attached to her waist was a partial skirt that mimicked peafowl tail feathers with an ombre effect- starting black before fading to dark blue then green at the tips. Her hair was put up in an elegant bun pinned in place by two golden peafowl quills and held in a holster around her waist were two steel fans tipped in gold that when spread resembled two beautiful yet deadly fans of peacock feathers.

“Why the Peacock?” Batman enquired with a raised eyebrow while Robin squealed happily as the preteen danced around Popinjay taking in her suit.

The masked woman snickered softly, her lips tugging into a small smirk, “I figured it would match well with your theme.”

Bruce should not have been surprised about how flawlessly she joins their routine and patrols. Marinette had always been able to adapt to any situation easily after all. It was something that the Guardian was still trying to teach him how to do.

She would pop in randomly over the years that followed, always seeming to know when Bruce and Dick needed her the most. She was a part of their small family after all and Bruce’s oldest friend. It was why he did not protest when Marinette whisked Dick away to the Temple to train after he and Bruce have a fight again when Robin talks about heading out on his own and becoming his own hero, outside of the Young Justice. After all he was turning 18 soon and was outgrowing the Robin mantle.

“Just because he is growing up, doesn’t mean he no longer needs his father, Bruce.” Were Marinette’s parting words before she left with Dick for Tibet.

When they returned a year later, it was to a relieved, if sheepish, Bruce who had just returned from patrol with a very angry preteen in tow dressed in a new Robin suit. Instead of feeling threatened, Dick grinned, causing Bruce to sigh in relief, “So does this mean I have a little brother now?”

“How did you end up adopting this one, _ma nuit noire_?”

“He stole the wheels off the BatMobile.”

“Only you, Bruce, only you.”

A month later, Dick became Nightwing after a conversation with Superman when the young man asked the super if his culture ever had vigilantes after Dick moved to Bludhaven. With the alien’s permission, he took up the mantle of Nightwing and officially passed on the Robin mantle down to his younger brother, Jason. Bludhaven gained a vigilante and Jason gained a new confidence in himself with his older brother’s approval, not that the angry teen would admit it.

Popinjay made many trips to Gotham to help train the new Robin. Bruce was surprised, though he shouldn’t have been, at how fast Jason took to Marinette. The former street kid would even slip and call her Ma now and then, especially when the peacock heroine was being extra motherly. That Bruce wasn’t surprised about as Dick would, and still did, call Marinette Mama Bird. He tried not to dwell on how much his heart warmed at the thought of Marinette as the boys’ mother figure. Especially not when he was currently dancing around Catwoman and their odd relationship or his _thing_ with Talia Al Ghul, who he knew disliked Popinjay greatly. Though his relationship with Talia ended when she drug him.

It was after a routine patrol when PopinJay came sauntering back into the Batcave carrying a confused, if excited, little nine-year-old boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes dressed only in his pajamas and holding a camera. The dark blue haired woman was smiling motherly down at the little scamp in her arms as Tim babbled excitedly about meeting one of his favorite heroes and how he couldn’t believe that MDC was PopinJay.

“PopinJay, what is the meaning of this?” Bruce growled in confusion as he turned from the BatComputer to address his partner, who simply giggled at his attempt to intimidate her. 

“Bruce, come meet your biggest fan.”

“PopinJay!” 

“Oh, don’t be a stick in the mud. He already figured out our identities from Dick’s quadruple somersault.”

“He what? But, how?” This had Bruce intrigued as he stalked close to the woman, who was practically the mother of his sons, taking in the sight of little Tim, “He is the Drake heir…what is he doing out so late?” The fact that he was still in his pajamas without shoes on which brought the father in Bruce to the forefront went without saying. 

Jason watched all this with a sigh and grumbled, “I’ll go tell Alfred to get a room ready for him.” Looks like he would be sharing his Ma with another brother… He best tell Dick about Tim, Jason just knew their parents (Marinette was their Mom no matter how oblivious Bruce was to his feelings) would be adopting the boy.

And wouldn’t you know he was right, somehow not even three months later Tim was now Tim Drake-Wayne due to his parents being found neglectful in a hush-hush trail. Dick was ecstatic about having another little brother to dote on and even Jason was happy to have a little brother, having grown fond of Tim during all the times the youngest Drake stayed at the Manor or BatCave when his parents went out of town on one of their frequent business trips. 

If Bruce wasn’t already thankful for Marinette’s presence in his life, he would have been after Jason ran off to track down his birth mother after finding out that Catherine was not his mom. He understood that Jason simply had questions he thought only his birth mom could answer, but it still broke Bruce’s heart that his middle son thought he would not help him find the woman. If it wasn’t for the multiple trackers he had placed on Jason, he would not have known that the young Robin was in Ethiopia of all places. Batman wouldn’t make it in time to save Robin, but he knew one person who could. 

It was the only time his composure had came so close to breaking as he called Marinette and begged her to save their son. Batman arrived just as the building went up in flames and would have broken down if not for PopinJay informing over the com that she had Jason and that they were at the Cave. Unfortunately, Jason was in critical condition and had slipped into a coma by the time Bruce made it back to the Manor. After a long talk, it was decided that Marinette would take him to the Temple to heal and recover. Tim would be taking over as Robin in his absence, though the 12 year old wished it was under different circumstances.

Marinette kept Bruce updated on his status using the communicator he had given her. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he cried when she called him and informed him that Jason had woken up. Jason and Bruce had a long discussion when he was fully coherent, thankfully Jason understood why Bruce gave Tim the mantle and even asked him to inform Tim that he had his blessing to be Robin. This talk was also the first time one of his sons’ called him Dad.

“Dad, I don’t think I can be Robin anymore, anyway…I think it’s time I branched out.”

“Will you be using a Miraculous?”

“No, Ma asked, even said I would be a good fit for the Eagle, but I turned her down. I want to make my own way without fancy powers.”

“You know we will support any decision you make.”

It was two years after that that Jason fully recovered and returned to Gotham as the vigilante, Red Hood. Thankfully, Marinette talked him out of that outrageous helmet and helped him design his new costume. The suit he wore had a red hood attached to it and he wore a red metal face mask with a black domino mask. He still managed to keep the leather jacket though. Even if Bruce frowned at his use of guns, at least the rounds were mainly tranquilizers- the Bat was proud of his son.

Tim made an amazing Robin and detective. Though Bruce was suspicious when Marinette would disappear with Tim to train him in secret or take him to the Temple. But, it was Tim’s choice and if he choose to join the Order, Bruce would support him. Marinette loved their sons equally, but Bruce knew she was closer to Tim.

He was thankful for Marinette being there for him when Barbara joined the team as Batgirl. Even more thankful for when Stephanie joined and then Cassandra was adopted. He was not sure how to handle daughters and the girls having a positive female role model relieved him greatly. Even if he did get a few grey hairs now and then from some of their more interesting purchases.

Talia dropped Damian on Bruce when Tim was 16 and had just become co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises, after both his older brothers refused the position. (Dick was now a Cop in Bludhaven and Jason had taken over Security for the WE.) Bruce was still reeling from the shock of finding out he had a blood son and Talia just dumping the ten year old on him without so much of a by-your-leave. Bruce had finally put his past with Talia and Selina behind him and had finally moved on when this happened. He was unsure how to process this new situation. Though after stopping Damian from killing/attacking Tim once again, he knew what he had to do.

He called Marinette.

Bruce isn’t sure what she did or said to his youngest son. But after whisking Damian away for a few months at the Temple, the child that came back was changed. Still the same arrogant cold ex-assassin, but he had started to open up to his family and follow his father’s code of honor. Though, things were still shaky between him and Tim, the older boys were all amused when Damian bluntly asked them why Father hadn’t proposed to Marinette, or _Mère_ as he called her in French, yet.

“Because Dad is really, really oblivious to his own feelings.”

“He’s a fucking idiot.” 

“Jaybird!” 

“What? You know it’s true!” 

“Little ears, Jay!”

Damian turned to his only intelligent sibling, and most dangerous outside of Cain, “Drake, I presume you have plans ready to set in motion?”

There was a reason he considered Drake his highest threat to his position as blood son. Ra’s had stated time and time again that he wished to induct Tim into the fold, one way or another. Many times his grandfather had stated this when he found Damian’s own performance lacking, making comments on how the young Detective would have done things. Drake had plans within plans, a mind like a steel trap mixed with a twisted maze and a tenacity most assassin’s would envy. It was why Damian grudgingly respected the teen, even if he would rather bit his tongue off then admit it.

Tim gave his youngest sibling a rather maniacal grin, some of his Red Robin persona (A mantle he took up recently) shining through, “Oh do I.”

Unfortunately, their plans to trick their parental figures into realizing their feelings would have to wait.

Because Darkseid came and Bruce was gone…


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiz the last Chapter.  
> Angst ahead.  
> And a Major Character Death.

_Dear lord, when I get to heaven  
Please let me bring my man  
When he comes tell me that you’ll let him in  
Father tell me if you can  
All that grace, all that body  
All that face, makes me wanna party  
He’s my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds_

_Will you still love me  
When I’m no longer young and beautiful?  
Will you still love me  
When I’ve got nothing but my aching soul?  
I know you will, I know you will  
I know that you will  
Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?  
Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?  
Will you still love me when I’m not young and beautiful?_

_-*-_

_“Bruce is dead, Tim. He isn’t coming back…Please drop this insane theory of yours.”_

Dick’s words kept repeating in his head over and over as Tim stared unseeing at the data calculating on the BatComputer through the program he been working tirelessly to make. He knew his theory was right! He just knew it!

Bruce was lost in the time stream, a last act of vengeance from Darkseid.

And if Tim was right, when Bruce returned-

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft, fragile voice of their adoptive mother, “Timmy?”

“Come to tell me to give up too?” He asked, his tone rather harsh as Tim looked over his shoulder at the thin and grieving form of Marinette, wincing when he saw her flinch back at his tone, “Mom...I’m sorry that was out of line.”

The French/Chinese woman simply gave him a soft ghost of a smile, making Tim remember just how grief stricken Marinette was. And not just for Bruce-but also, for the child she would never get to hold or had known of before the grief and stress brought by Bruce’s disappearance caused her to miscarry. The young man felt guilt pierce his heart as Tim really took in just how Marinette looked; she was much too thin from losing her appetite due to first Bruce and then the miscarriage, he could tell she hadn’t cared for her appearance for days now (probably the last time Alfred was able to coax her from Bruce’s room) as she was still dressed in a pair pajama bottoms and one of Bruce’s old shirts, her hair had started to thin from her stress and hung limply around her frame in an oily and stringy mess, and the paleness of her skin only enhanced the large bags under her red rimmed eyes. The woman who once stood proud and strong even in the face of an angry Superman had been reduced to a mere shadow of her former self.

The main reason Tim wished to get their father back. Without Bruce, Marinette was falling apart in her grief and nothing the kids or Alfred did could bring her back. And without Marinette there to help hold them together, the rest of their little family was falling apart. 

He turned fully around and got up, pulling his adoptive mother into a hung, “I’m sorry, I just came back from the meeting with the JL and they…they wouldn’t listen to my theory or reasoning.”

_-*-_

_She tried to keep them together, to be strong for her children. She tried so hard._ _But her heart cried out for her missing half and the pain was too much to ignore. Especially after the loss of the baby she had unknowingly been carrying._

Alfred understood after all he was the only one who knew that Bruce had finally gotten the courage to ask her out a month before Darkseid attacked. They wanted to wait before informing the children, mostly because they were amused by the plots the kids kept coming up with to Parent Trap them. Though, Bruce was exasperated that they were using the skills he taught them for this.

Marinette could tell that everything was weighing heavily on the eldest twos shoulders’ as Dick and Jason tried to keep the family together and Gotham safe. The girls were scattered to the winds, though she knew that it was because they were trying to find alternate ways to bring Bruce back. They would call her every other day to check in or shoot her a text. 

When the stress of the months that followed caused Marinette to miscarriage, it was as if the last of her strength had become zapped and all she could do was grieve. She rarely left the master bedroom after that, only bathing and eating when Alfred managed to drag her out of the room-something she always apologized for burdening him with whenever she was lucid. It was just so hard to stay in the here and now, when there was no certainty if Bruce would ever return or if he was truly dead. When Bruce would never get to know about the life she had been carrying…when she would never get to see him huff fondly at their sons’ antics or the girls’ shenanigans…when she would never get to remind him of how much their children loved him, how much SHE loved him…She would never get to see the look of wonder on his face again whenever one of their kids made a new discovery or got excited over a break in a difficult case…

She would never get to propose to him like she planned to do, after all she had loved him for so long…She didn’t want to wait any longer and risk something happening..

Something like this.

It was one of her moments of lucidity when she heard the arguing and then Tim storming off to the Cave as Dick left the manor when they returned from the JL meeting. Marinette silently sought out her second youngest, confronted him and when he told her his theory…

She felt hope bloom once again in her heart. 

Tim theorized that Darkseid planned for the Omega Energy to build up each time that Bruce jumped through time and that once he reached their time, the Energy would destroy them all. A last ‘Fuck You’ from the God Tyrant after Bruce defeated him. Tim was trying to figure out a way to retrieve Bruce without destroying the timeline and undoing what Bruce had already done…

But, Marinette already had an idea. One formed from her desperation to get her love back, to get her children’s father back even if it came at the cost of herself. Gotham needed Batman and his Children _needed_ Bruce Wayne. Without him, they were falling apart.

Marinette smiled serenely as she felt calm for the first time in a long time as the weight of her decision settled over her shoulders. She gently stopped Tim’s rambling and kissed the young man’s forehead, “Don’t worry, I have a way.”

-*-

Tim felt ice settle in his stomach as cold dread froze the blood in his veins at the words Marinette spoke. His lightening quick mind already theorizing what her plan could be as Marinette stepped away from him and strode to the center of the Cave. But the shock of what she was going to do slowed his reflexes as he snapped out of his thoughts and to the here and now, rushing to stop her only to be meet with a green barrier. He hadn’t even noticed that she was wearing the Turtle bracelet…

_“Timothy Drake-Wayne, as the Grand Guardian of the Miraculous I name you my heir and the Sole Guardian of the Grand Miracle Box.”_

He should have known, she rarely was without at least 3 miraculous on her these days.

Tim felt the tears start to well up in his eyes as he pounded on to the barrier with his fists, “MOM! Don’t do it! We can find another way! PLEASE!” Desperation and grief speared his heart and laced his voice as he begged and pleaded for Marinette to bring the barrier down.

He wasn’t aware of his shouting and desperate pleading catching the attention of Damian and Alfred, the latter dashing off to inform the others and get them to the Cave in an attempt to stop Marinette. Tim could only watch through tears as Marinette simply smiled as she transformed into Ladybug for the first time in years before unifying the Black Cat with the Ladybug miraculous.

There was a blinding flash of light causing Tim and Damian, who had just ran into the Cave, to cry out and cover their eyes. And when they blinked away the spots of light, the two boys could only stare in wonder and sadness at the being standing before them. Before them stood a goddess, a being made of pure magical energy and radiated light.

But..

It was no longer Marinette.

Tim knew the being may have his mother’s memories, feelings and thoughts.. But he knew she was not Lost to the Magical energy as it consumed her to fuel the wish she was making. Magic came at a cost, especially when using powerful artifacts and combining them.

Because to bring back their Father, their Mother was going to sacrifice herself.

A serene smile shown brightly among the particles making up her being as the goddess crooned to her sons, unaware of the others running into the Cave, _**~~“Don’t worry…I will bring him back…”~~**_

And then Light filled the entire Cave causing them all to cry out in surprise and pain as it flooded their vision.

-*-

She searched and searched as she fell backwards through time, before finally finding him.

As she fell…She watched as Bruce jumped through time.

She watched as Bruce lost his memories and was cast back to the dawn of time itself. Knowing she couldn’t bring him back yet, not yet. Even as Bruce was nearly killed and then rescued by a young human, getting his utility belt in the process. Watched with vague amusement as Bruce downed the pelt of a giant Bat and resumed his Batman persona even while running on instinct, using the tools from the belt to fight the tribe that tried to kill him. Screamed when he dove off the waterfall into the raging river below…

Marinette watched as Bruce saved a woman from a tentacled monster. Regaining some of his memories and using his detective skills as Mordecai to help solve crimes within the village that would later become Gotham. Cursed the witch who indirectly cursed her Love when she was hanged. 

Marinette could only watch as Bruce got closer and closer to their timeline, while waiting for her chance to intervene. She cheered as he fought Blackbeard. Raged when he was shot by Jonah Hex. Wept for him as he has to investigate his own parent’s murder and rages when that Bitch tried to sacrifice Bruce to his own myth. 

And when he jumped again, Marinette was able to intercept him finally. 

-*-

Gold particles of light swirled around the enchanting being floating in front of Bruce, gently cupping his face as she stared down at him with a serene smile even though it was hard to see. Her golden form was made of a constantly shifting stream of particles it seemed, condensed together to vaguely form the visage of a tiny yet beautiful woman. Her hair was a nebula trapped in a flowing stream of midnight blue trailing behind her form as if floating through water weightless. And her eyes were burning stars of the blue crackling with limitless power, diamond bright droplets streamed from them and swirled about the goddess’ face freely yet she did not notice the tears. Bell-like laughter chimed from her as the goddess smiled brighter than the sun going supernova.

A breathless, timeless voice echoing around him in glee, _**~~“Bruce.”~~**_

Bruce felt as if he should know who she is…

**_~~“It’ll be alright, my love. All will be well.”~~ _ **

He gasped as the warmth of her lips brushed against his forehead and the memories Bruce had lost came flooding back. All the missing bits and pieces that made Bruce the compassionate and loving father, and made Batman the unyielding and steadfast vigilante, he was. Things that weren’t returned to him with his suit.

“Marinette…”

He could only sway at the sudden rush of memories and how exhausted he was truly set in. Bruce blinked confused up at her as the goddess cupped his face gently, “Marinette…why?”

~~_**“Gotham needs you..”** _ ~~

“But..”

~~_**“Our Children need you.”** _ ~~

“Marinette…”

He tried to protest, he knew exactly what would happen if she went through with this. Bruce reached up trying to cradle the heart shaped face of the woman he loved in the palms of his rough hands, “Marinette please..”

 ** _ ~~“I’m sorry Bruce,”~~_** the goddess crooned softly, sadness and steel lacing her words. 

“But I need You, Marinette,” He cried, begging her with those words to reconsider what she planned to do next.

**_~~“I love you Bruce.”~~ _ **

The finality of those words would forever be stamped into his heart even as blinding light flooded his vision.

-*-

The light slowly died down, as if sucked back into the center of the room. The Bat family could only blink away the spots in shock as the light slowly condensed into two different figures. One was a familiar and much missed figure of a tall man dressed in a very familiar bat suit. And the other was a being made of pure light and the stars themselves.

Tim stood in shock, holding onto Damian as if to ground them both in reality. Did she really do it? But..

But at what cost?

They watched in shock as the woman gently took Bruce’s hands in her own and kissed his palms, **_~~“I love you all..”~~_**

They could only cry along with their father as the goddess slowly started to dissipate into little orbs of light, breaking apart and disappearing before their eyes. 

**_~~“Remember that..”~~ _ **

Until finally all that was left was a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a ring that gently dropped into a silent Bruce’s hands.

Batman had returned…

But at what cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> (Or not depending if I want to write more)

**Author's Note:**

> This looks so much longer on Tumblr.  
> Comments are being monitored because of Trolls.
> 
> Also I used Google Translate for the Chinese names so please forgive me if they are wrong.


End file.
